There are some folks out there that subscribe to the "Microbiotic" diet for themselves. For example, my family lives in Kansas, so I should probably not eat crab legs, or Pacific Salmon, but I can eat crawfish and catfish. My diet should consist of things that are from the area that my family has lived in for the past few generations. Is there any cross application for dogs?

 Quote: rick miller

There are some folks out there that subscribe to the "Microbiotic" diet for themselves. For example, my family lives in Kansas, so I should probably not eat crab legs, or Pacific Salmon, but I can eat crawfish and catfish. My diet should consist of things that are from the area that my family has lived in for the past few generations. Is there any cross application for dogs?

I think that local foods are a cornerstone of what's called macrobiotic eating, which originated in Japan. Maybe microbiotic, too, but I think microbiotic means more like low-fat, high-fiber, little or no meat and dairy, etc.

Macrobiotics is meant to be a way to eat within the natural order of life (so local foods are part of it), and living in harmony with nature, eating a very simple unprocessed diet.

But there is a lot of overlap.

So you ask about dogs and local foods..... well, that's interesting, I think. I'm not sure whether we would look at "local" to the dog as meaning where his recent ancestors were born, or maybe where his breed originated.

Here's my personal feeling, though: For whatever reason, I think we can help reduce shipping and all that shipping entails if we try to eat foods that come from near our kitchens. Maybe that can also give us more confidence in the food supply, too, if there are fewer processors, middlemen, etc., between the farmer and us. The terrible dog food recall we're experiencing has brought to light a little of the cost we incur when we have no idea where the ingredients on our plates (or our dogs' dishes) came from.

Well, that was a long way around to give my 2 cents' worth.

Of course, another cornerstone of this type of eating philosophy is often a grain-based diet, and that's not appropriate for dogs.

Thanks Connie!

I think you can look at it two ways. On one hand, you could say that the diet should revolve around the origins of the breed. On the other, you could say the dog should eat whatever the last few generations have eaten.

Personally, I am now feeding raw, so I am mostly feeding poultry. I think dogs are eating poultry no matter where they are in the world! However, I have heard that lobsters were fed to dogs before humans tried to eat lobster, as the lobsters would get caught in the nets we were using to catch fish. But, no dog in Kansas would ever naturally get fed a lobster, it would have to be shipped in on a plane! So, if Bella's family is from Kansas, theoretically, she shouldn't eat seafood.

However, what if the last few generations that Bella comes from ate kibble. I don't care if this is so, I won't stop feeding raw. I am just throwing it out there. Thoughts?

Eating kibble because they were fed kibble is kind of off the topic a little, I think.

I think maybe the idea is what the dog would naturally eat on his own.... which probably doesn't involve any trips to the pet supply store with a credit card.

Having watched UC Gray Wolf Project videos, I'm pretty sure that they are true to their opportunistic carnivore heritage.

 Quote: Rick Miller

... no dog in Kansas would ever naturally get fed a lobster ...

Probably never naturally catch one and shell it, either, no matter where he lives. But I could be wrong....

I think that the idea is that in the past, eating local food generally means eating unprocessed and fresh food. However, modern transportation has made it so that fresh, unprocessed food can be delivered to remote locations in some cases, and I wouldn't turn that down as I think variety is also important, if possible.

I don't think it really matters what past generations have been eating. I don't think that many dog's past generations have had access to salmon oil, but there's no doubt in my mind that it's good for them.

Just my opinion.

I did hear somewhere that there was a plus to eating honey from local bees. Something to do with allergies, maybe? I'll have to look that up. Ah well, doesn't really pertain to dogs anyway!

Yes, if I lived in a location so remote that all I could get locally was whale blubber, I would TOTALLY accept trucked-in supplies.

JK.

About salmon oil: I look at marine sources of long-chain Omega 3s as a substitute for what we used to have v. what we now have for slaughter animals (which of course affects our dogs). Dogs and humans ate animals that had these Omega 3 EFAs stored in the fat and meat as a product of eating grass (and all green plants). Animals fed grain tend to accumulate Omega 6s, which are super-abundant in a modern diet.

So while dogs don't have much of a fishing history, they do have a long history (as we do) of getting substantial Omega 3s in the diet, and that has changed radically in the very recent past (anthropologically speaking).

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VKN-4KRY1RV-2&_user=10&_coverDate=11%2F30%2F2006&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=e1b1a4132b4fc03788e91bb812c34f94

http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/020204.Watkins.paleo.html

This is an area of major interest to me, and everything I learn about dietary fats supports the theory that many health problems faced by humans and dogs today are related to this profound shift in the kinds of EFAs in the diet -- from a diet pretty even between pro-inflammatory and inflammation-suppressing EFAs to the recent tendency to eat a very pro-inflammation diet.

So fish oil is a necessary fix, IMO.

I guess what I was referring to was the OP's idea of sticking to what the dog's past generations have eaten, and the pros of eating locally.

I think that the biggest boon from eating local is eating fresh and unprocessed food, regardless of what past generations have eaten. Just because it's not local, doesn't mean it doesn't have its benefits.

And I also realize that we do modify diets to fit dietary gaps. I doubt that dogs or wolves naturally eat cow on a daily basis, or even a set number of meals per day at the same time per day, or even have constant access to fresh water at all times. I know that my local wild canines (coyotes) eat a whole lot of mice and other rodents as their staple, but I still generally feed my dog cow and bird.

I guess I'm just saying that just because a dog hasn't eaten cow or chicken for past generations doesn't mean it's not okay for him to eat it now. The salmon oil was probably a bad example!

Am I making any sense? My son has had a high fever and I was up all night. It's his nap time now, but I'm still a little loopy. Sorry!

 Quote: Amber Morgan

I guess I'm just saying that just because a dog hasn't eaten cow or chicken for past generations doesn't mean it's not okay for him to eat it now. ... Am I making any sense? ...

Yes!

Would you all agree that poultry is an item that dogs from all around would eat naturally?